Dr Jagdeo assures indigenous people not left out of LCDS benefits

at least 15 per cent of income will go directly toward Amerindian community development
With growing concerns emanating from the government’s new Low Carbon Development
Strategy (LCDS), Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Monday sought to reduce fears
surrounding the benefits indigenous communities will access.
At a press conference hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), Dr Jagdeo
expressed his government’s full commitment to ensuring that the indigenous people of Guyana
benefit directly from the strategy. “In the LCDS, the money earned, we set aside a huge sum of
money from that earned through the Norway Agreement to spend in the Amerindian
communities of Guyana,” he said.
Dr. Jagdeo noted that a total of US $17M has already been set aside for Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) development in the hinterland, along with US$10M for land
titling activities.
The Vice President said further, that the government has already pledged to use a portion of all
money earned from the project to development Amerindian communities. “We have pledged that
in any future sale of forest carbon, that at least 15 per cent will go directly to these communities,
and if we can earn $500 million over the period, just imagine what 15 per cent of $500 million
would be,” he explained.
Dr Jagdeo noted that earlier this year, the government allocated a total of $630M towards the
resuscitation of the Amerindian Land Titling Project (ALT) alone, while another $58 million was
expended for the expansive development of Amerindian communities.
He said the investments in the indigenous communities of Guyana serve as yet another promise
fulfilled by the PPP/C Administration to resume the LCDS and fund community development
plans in the hinterland.